Shoe sewing machine



, Nov. 25, 1941. R; HOPKINS 7 2,263,777 v SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 1,,1938

Patented Nov. 25, 1941 to United ShoeMachinery;Gorporation,;Flem;- ington, N. 41., a corporation of NewJersey Original application Nvem ber 1, -1938, SerialNo. 1238;184. :Dividedzand this application 'Decem zber- 2, v1940, SeriaIiNO. 36819.4

7* Claims. 01. 112-50) ,l'Ihepresent invention relates' to improvements .in. machines for. manufacturingshoes.

.Theobject of the..present invention istoiprovideamachine foruse in themanufactura of a strong and durable shoe of attractive appearance, .resembling a Goodyear welt .or .turn. shoe, abut 1 capable: of being made .of cheaperrmaterials: and 2 without thexuse of I the expensive. machines. and .skilled labor necessary for the production of LGeodyear shoes.

i The 1-. shoe. and :the methodOfxmaking: it form ::.the subj ecti matter .of pending. application-Serial .l\lo..238,184,v filed November .1, 41938; of whichzthe 1' present application is a division. .Thefinalrshape facturing the'shoe ibyzthese methods is Lthat the ilipton .the -sole ore insolenmay beitrimmed :closer tthan. heretofore, :due to zthei-spacing of the i in- ;zseamr from the .lip and, if desirable,.theiprelim- 55 inary lastingiifastenings:may also be; removed without danger: :of linjuring l the 1 permanent inseam;

iInzthemanufacture of theishoe above referred .to,::a'- sole ortinsolei ofzthinner stock may be: em-

S10 1 ployed than can :be :used for the construction .of

--a.Goody.ear welt-* shoe, and the lip to -which lthe preliminary fastenings are inserted and by: which the! permanent line :of fastenings -is guidedt may be formed I by securingia separateistripaof maaofwthisxshoeis based .on theszoutlineof a: channel 15 iterial :to the :marginal eportions of lthexisole or ora lip ,oncaninsole, or in the casezof :a-Jturn shoe, on asole, :by utilizing. the lasting;process:of1IGoodyear shoe making methods having ithe ,upper -.properlyxshaped and fittedover a 1ast;.and preliminarily' secured to thee insole or sole, without ,further weakening. of th0se;,portions the; section -or strength of which has;alreadyzbeenlreduced in forming the lip.

The manufacture of the shoe. :above.:ref;erred toz includes working the.-shoe-u pper intozlasted .position over the marginal portions :;of:-'a;.sole: in vthe case of. a turn. shoe, or theiinsoleinlthecase of a welt shoe, the sole or insole havingl an.-upastandingribor lip; securing thezma-rginal portions of the uppertoltheilip by means ofspreliminary ifastenings and, in orderwtohdoaway with the necessity. of using a Goodyear weltand turn shoe sewing machine, and ;to..permanent1y .securethepartsof the shoeltogether, alinesof .fastenings is inserted outside of theclipuofsthe sole. or insole, conveniently using. fonthis. purpose a shoe sewingmachine of the McKay type, which .type of machine can readily bemaintainedin ,proper adjustment and operated:at:a high .rate

insole orlbyrforming aniinclined cut or-channel lat aaniangle to athesurface of -the sole I or insole iin'tthexusual :way.

In I'the construction -of a Goodyear welt or a 20 -turn.-;-shoei it is usual Lto 1 form a cha'nnel before cassemblingthe .insolel.on a! last, further from the :edge'of the; insole alongithe shank than along .the rforepartsozthatxwhen the;.upper.-:is. permanently -SWed :tOLlShBlibfiJSK-EIOfLthE .channel lip; the shoewi1l xretain its original .ishape,v and .less F-Istrain 5 than .heretdforeL-williber imparted locallytmthe: individ- -ual..partsr:of1.the:completedishoeifwhile iniuse. LIn theLmanufacture of theishoe. above .referred Ito, ithe-z-fonnation of thetchannel;irrithiszwaytresults '30 ;in a the added .eadvantage .:of :.a :stronger .inseam which: isz'less :yielding. than with :an 1- inseam: in-

isertedatzthe .base of; theilchannel lip .zas .incthe Goodyear: method.

For the sake ofrconvenience:inisewing; rather 335 than cementing n-the. outsole,':acccrding.ztot a; further. features, of 1 the invention, :a welt; stripimay be directed into the :seamxwhicha connects; the u-pper and insole-:so' that uthegparts will .be joined securely vtogether. :Preferably, the r inner. sewed of speedby a workman lacking. thenecessaryhigh r40 .edge of :the :Welt -is so :.positioned that it.is ;.out

degree of skill and long experience required in; a Goodyear operator.

.In order'to insure the location of theline" of .permanent fastenings entirely outside of :the :lip

: of contact with the lip after. attachment to per- :mit'trimmin'g the lip? without. disturbing. the welt. F'Ihe outsole imay be; sewed 011. an; ordinary flout e'soleestitchenr the.subsequentoperations following .of .the .sole or insole, the operation ofthezMcKay th pr u p d in omp tin'eaiGoodtype sewing machine isdirected, as hereinafter described, by engaging the .inner surface of the slip on the sole'or insole, thus determiningthe final shape .of the shoe in a the same manner as year weltushoei .The improved machinewembodying the present "inventionisprovided with a straight: hook. needle, .avworksupporting horn, a: presser-footza'cting .on

in a.G d ea,r w ltghgg, one advantage fthis the workrin the line of the; seam, :andxa. channel construction-is in a stronger inseam than' when sewed through the'base of the lip, and in the possibilityof using low. grade materials :without appreciably lowering the .quality or strength :of

guide having .its entire workxenga-ging! portion .1 acting at the inside of the :seam ,linez opposite to :theouter-edgeof'the insole. This feature of the sinvention "also contemplates the provision i of a the ,finished shoe. Another. advantage in .manu- -weltlguidevarranged tozdirectzthe weltstrip into the seam with the greater portion of the strip opposite to the channel guide. In order to insure that the channel guide will be retained in contact with the channel lip while guiding the seam, the channel guide is mounted for relative movement on the presser-foot so that when the presser-foot is raised, while feeding the work, the channel guide will not be retracted from the lip, this arrangement of the channel guide being advantageous whether the machine is provided with a welt guide or not.

Other features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following description, taken" in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation illustrating the relationship of the parts of a shoe with certain parts of a sewing machine embodying features of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the presser-foot and channel guide of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a. view in side elevation of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking from the right; Fig. 4 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of a shoe sole as prepared for use in the machine of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of one side of a shoe illustrating the positions of the parts on a last, as a preparatory step in the method of making the shoe; and Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view of the same shoe after the parts have been permanently secured together and a welt attached.

In the manufacture of a shoe, as illustrated, an insole 6 is provided with a lip 8 either by attaching a separate strip or by cutting a channel 10 about the marginal portion of the insole, which channel is inclined from the surface of the insole outwardly. The insole is then fitted to a last indicated in Fig. 5 at l2, an upper I4 is applied to the last, and worked into overlapping relation with the marginal portion of the insole in the usual manner. The side lasting operation of the upper may be performed on side lasting machines of commercial design, examples of which are illustrated in U. S. Letters Patent of Goddu No. 1,796,451 of March 17, 1931, and in an application for Letters Patent of Lawson, Ser. No. 231,750, filed September 26, 1938, preliminary fastening staples l6 being inserted through that portion of the upper margin which is upturned against the lip 8, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The toe and heel seat are then lasted in the manner ordinarily employed in the manufacture of Goodyear welt shoes.

To fasten permanently the overlapping marginal portions of the upper and insole, the last is removed from the shoe and the parts are sewed with a through-and-through seam IS, the line of which is guided by the inner surface of the lip. The machine for sewing the lasted upper and insole is of the McKay type, such as illustrated and described in the U. S. Letters Patent of Leveque, No. 1,885,927, dated November 1, 1932, and of Ashworth, No. 1,914,936, dated I angle of the upper against the edge gage, particularly around the shank of the shoe where the angle formed with the insole by the upper is very slight, or where the insole is of light flimsy material. The edge of the shoe may, therefore, slip beneath the edge gage or be held too far from the edge gage by the tension of the upper. In either case, the seam will be improperly located, even to the point of missing the overlapping portions of the insole and upper entirely. Also, with the use of an edge gage variations in thickness of the upper materials caused by the box of the shoe affect the location of a seam adversely.

To avoid these difficulties, in the machine of the present invention the edge gage has been dispensed with and a channel guide to cooperate with the inside surface of the lip of the insole has been provided. Where the lip is formed by a separately attached strip, the guide enters the crevice inside the curvature of the lip which is raised above the surface of the insole or where the lip is formed by making an inclined cut in the substance of the insole, the guide enters the cut or channel so formed.

The channel guide, indicated at 26, is mounted on the presser-foot 22 which is provided with an opening having a supporting rod 28 secured therein. The rod 28 has a reduced portion, which forms a pivotal axis for the upper end of the channel guide. The lower work-engaging end of the channel guide is formed with guiding surfaces spaced from the seam line and disposed at an acute angle to each other, the apex of which is directed downwardly and to one side towards the point of operation of the needle. The shape of the guiding surfaces, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, is such that when the inner surface of the lip 8 is pressed against the channel guide, there will be a tendency for the guide to be drawn downwardly into the channel or crevice formed by the lip. When the presserfoot is raised during the operation of the feed point the lower end of the channel guide will be held from movement with the presser-foot and the upper end will pivot on the rod 28. To maintain a positive yielding pressure of the channel guide on the insole, a coil spring 30 surrounds the reduced portion of the rod 28, one end of which is bent over the channel guide and the other end engages a pin 32 mounted in the pres ser-foot, the spring being held in place by means of a screw 34 threaded into the end of the rod 23. For holding the channel guide in place when the work is removed, the upper end of the channel guide has a finger 35 arranged to strike the pin 32. The guide is formed between its ends to provide clearance for both the lip of the insole as well as the inner edge of the upper in case the upper extends beyond the edge of the lip.

After being sewn, the lip and that portion of the upper which is turned up during the lasting and stapling operation are trimmed off where it is intended to cement an outsole in place. When trimming the edge of the lip and upper, the bottom of the shoe is held against the rotating cutter or knife of a trimming machine with sufiicient pressure to remove the desired amount of the lip and upper and also if desired the staples l6, so that all metal parts may be eliminated which are likely to work their way through the insole into a position where they may injure the foot of the wearer. The location of the seam which joins the upper to the iinsoleuwhen: guidedsat .aa uniform. distance. from x the a lip l of :the 1 insole, according 1: to :;the present l method ,1 insures anaample. uniform trimming. area Lbetween ..thev lip and the. :stitches of a through- ;andethroughseam. xAsa result,.the staplesmay be removed moreeasily while;trimming andzthere will. be less liabilityv of. injury to'. the remaining {parts of the shoe.

1T0. .directiawelt strippzB 6' into thelseamiso that an :outsole: may :be secured; by stitching to time ifree outer 1 edge of the :welt, .the vpresser-foot .22 is provided with a welt guide 38, the opening :of whichmaykbe adjustedto the size of the welt by means of. a slidably mounted block 40 arranged to be clamped within the opening at the side of the outer welt edge. The lower end of the presser-foot is also formed with a shoulder 42 for guiding the inner edge of the welt to be sewed in contact with the work while the outer edge of the welt is engaged by a flanged block 44 adjustably secured within a slotted extension of the presser-foot. The welt guide is so arranged that the welt strip will be directed towards the point of operation of the needle with the greater portion of the strip which remains free and unattached at the side of the seam line opposite to the channel guide. The presence of the welt, therefore, does not afiect the action of the channel guide, and the position of the welt is sewed uniformly out of contact with the lip by the engagement of the channel guide with the lip. When the welt is attached in this manner, parts of the shoe assume the relations illustrated in Fig. 6, so that the lip and staples may be trimmed without danger of disturbing the stitches. It also has been found that by stitching the welt to the marginal portions of the upper and insole with a through-and-through seam instead of a seam passing through the base of the lip, the use of a narrower welt is permissihle without decreasing the width at the free edge of the welt which extends beyond the bulge of the shoe upper after attachment. The sole is then completed in the manner of an ordinary Goodyear welt shoe.

When forming a lip on the sole by making an inclined cut or channel at an angle to the surface of the sole, it is customary in making a Goodyear welt shoe to space the cut unequally from the edge along different parts of the insole. According to the manufacture of shoes by the method herein described, it has also been found desirable to cut the channel in this way with the lip closer to the edge of the sole along the forepart of the shoe, and further from the edge along the shank of the shoe, as indicated in Fig. 4. When the lip of the sole is formed in this way, the line of stitching will be guided further from the edge along the shank of the shoe. As a result, the completed shoe, in appearance, simulates a Goodyear welt shoe, but the durability is greater due to the stronger inseam.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

located with relation to the needle to act on the .1. insole yinsidetthe lip 1' atqthecopposite 1 side of the :lipr,from.;.thez seams line.

.;'2.;A';'shoe.: sewing zmachineqfor securing the overlappings.marginal portions of a .shoe upper zcandianzinsolewwith aithrough -and-through seam, theastitchesxof which appear at the inside of the .zshoean-d'onzthe outer" surface of the upper hav- :.ing, incombination, stitch forming devicesin- :cluding .a straight .needle, a work supporting Lhorn, axpresser-foot: arranged: to .act on the work in the line of the,seam, .:acguide;for directing a ;w.elt.i.strip towards .theapoint oi operation of the stitch a forming :devics *Withithe greatergportion .,:0f ::the :rstrip. at one side of thewseam line, rand a channel guide arranged with its entire work engaging portion acting on the insole at the other side of the seam line.

3. A shoe sewing machine for securing the overlapping marginal portions of a shoe upper and an insole with a through-and-through seam, the stitches of which appear at the inside of the shoe and on the outer surface of the upper having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a straight needle, a work supporting horn, a presser-foot arranged to act on the work in the line of the seam, a feed point for engaging and feeding the work while the presser-foot is raised, and a channel guide mounted for relative movement on the presser-foot as the presserfoot is raised and arranged with its entire work engaging portion acting on the insole at one side of the seam line.

4. A shoe sewing machine for securing the overlapping marginal portions of a shoe upper and an insole with a through-and-through seam, the stitches of which appear at the inside of the shoe and on the outer surface of the upper having, in combination, stitch, forming devices including a straight needle, a work supporting horn, a presser-foot arranged to act on the work in the line of the seam, a feed point for engaging and feeding the Work while the presser-ioot is raised, and a channel guide mounted for relative movement on the presser-ioot, as the presser-foot is raised, the work engaging surfaces of said channel guide forming an acute angle the apex of which is directed downwardly and towards the point of operation of the needle.

5. A shoe sewing machine for securing the overlapping marginal portions of a shoe upper and an insole with a through-and-through seam, the stitches of which appear at the inside of the shoe and on the outer surface of the shoe having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a straight needle, a work support-ing horn, a Presser-foot arranged to act on the work in the line of the seam, a feed point engaging the work along the seam line between the needle and the presser-foot, a guide for directing a welt strip towards the point of operation of the stitch forming devices with the greater portion of the strip at one side of the seam line, and a channel guide mounted for relative movement on the presser-foot at the other side of the seam line and provided with work engaging surfaces forming an acute angle,

the apex of which is directed downwardly and towards the point of operation of the needle.

6. A shoe sewing machine for securing the overlapping marginal portions of a shoe upper and an insole with a through-and-through seam, the stitches of which appear at the inside of the shoe and on the outer surface of the shoe having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a straight needle, a work supporting horn, a, presser-ioot arranged to act on the work in the line of the seam, a guide for directing a welt strip towards the point of operation of the stitch forming devices to secure the welt to the upper with the outer edge of the strip at one side of the seam line free, a channel guide arranged with its entire work engaging portion acting on the insole at the other side of the seam line, and means arranged adjacent the outer edge of the welt strip for adjusting the size of the opening in the welt guide.

7. A shoe sewing machine for securing the overlapping marginal portions of a shoe upper and an insole with a through-and-through seam,

the stitches of which appear at the inside of the shoe and on the outer surface of the upper having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a straight needle, a work supporting horn, a presser-foot arranged to act on the Work in the line of the seam, a feed point for engaging and feeding the work while the presserfoot is raised, and a channel guide pivotally mounted on the presser-foot, and means for pressing the channel guide yieldingly against the surface of the work while the presser-foot is raised.

RAYMOND E. HOPKINS.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,265,777 November 25, l9l ,l.

' RAYMOND E. HOPKINS.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered .patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, first column, -line Mp, for the word "sole" read --shoe-; and" that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may con-form to the record of the case in the Patent Office. Signed and sealed this 28th day of April, A. D. 1912.

Henry Van Arsd-ale, (Seal) n I Acting Commissioner of Patents.

it a W r W m 

